Eulogy Speech for the Great , spoken by Morgan Freeman 

Moreau Integration Assignment Three: 

“With great power, comes great responsibility,” a quote from Spiderman’s Uncle Ben. 

While Sophie was an avid Marvel fan, she herself had great power. That power was inspiring 

those around her and keeping a positive attitude even when things got tough. She’s an inspiration 

to us all and even with her gone, her spirit and energy are still with us. 

Sophie was born in Lake Orion, Michigan on the night of a crazy snowstorm. The first 

born to Tara and Stephen Novak who as they watched their daughter grow, described her as 

“purposeful and bright” and as she grew up, was someone you could sit and reflect with. 

Allowing for the company to speak for itself, because as she learned, The Art of Stillness is a 

great way to find inner peace, and that’s one of the reasons why we know Sophie lived a great 

and beautiful life. (Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer, TED – Moreau F.Y.E. 

Week One) 

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an 

uncertain trumpet.” This quote spoken by Theodore Hesburgh really emulates Sophie’s 

leadership direction and is something that all of us here today can appreciate. When she was the 

President of the United States, she had to make some important calls that would influence the 

nation and string of events. Because of her amazing leadership and quick decisive thinking, she 

was able to stop the potential danger from the aliens and form a peace treaty that is still in effect 

today. She mentioned to me a few years ago that she wanted people to listen to her without 

trying to be the loudest in the room. Her actions spoke loudly, and it made people listen. 

(Hesburgh,” Produced by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley – Moreau F.Y.E. Week Two) 

One thing that everyone in this stadium can agree on is Sophie’s gratefulness towards any 

situation. Even after she won gold four Olympics in a row, she still had tears streaming down her 

face every time she was on that podium. Her faith in God and love for the opportunities she’s 

had inspires all of us to “not suppress the thought of death, or escape it, or run away from it 

because we think that’s where we’ll find happiness.” Sophie’s understanding of the opportunities 

given to her allowed her to live with no regrets. (“Meet the nun who wants you to remember that 

you will die” by Ruth Graham, NY Times – Moreau F.Y.E. Week Three) 

“Contrary to popular belief, deciding on a major does not determine the rest of your life.” 

This quote from Meruelo Family Center for Career Development text, is very evident in Sophie’s 

case. We all heard the story by now that she almost flunked out of Notre Dame because of how 

badly she was doing in her Mendoza classes. When she realized that business was not the right 

path, she knew her passion of writing would be a helpful factor in developing a future that would 

suite her strengths best. And because she took the leap to explore her passions in a career, she is 

the bestest-selling author ever with many amazing books that have captivated the hearts of many. 

(“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development – 

Moreau F.Y.E. Week Four) 



Many people cherish Sophie, but her mom had an especially important relationship with 

her. Her mother would call her “an old soul” and “a mature women at such a young age.” Sophie 

has always been able to think rationally throughout decision in her life. This was especially 

evident when she had to decide if she would accept the engagement to the then Prince of France 

or continue with her duties to the United States. Her mom said “everything [she] did always 

worked out, one way or another.” One of Sophie’s passions was running and when she ran it was 

obvious to everyone watching her compete that she was doing something that she loved. Even 

when she had to take a break from her injuries after engaging in a sword fight with the members 

of the Dark Reunion, everyone saw her “in the zone” during those times. Her ability to stay 

focused on tasks as extraneous as racing, carried over into other aspects of her life. When it came 

to being the President or protecting the endangered elephants of Africa, she would put her all 

into whatever she was doing, and for that, we are eternally grateful. (“Conversation with Mom, 

February 18, 2022, Week 5.” – Moreau F.Y.E. Week Five).  

Even with the idea that Sophie was the most perfect being to ever exist in the entire 

universe. She still struggled with many things, one of them being the idea of mindfulness. “…the 

act of thinking about ourselves isn’t necessarily correlated with knowing ourselves.” She told her 

sisters multiple times that asking these deep questions of herself gave her anxiety and made her 

feel depressed, but after several years of putting it off, she finally decided to do something about 

it. So, she flew to India and engaged in a month of solitude with Buddhist monks to find what 

she was looking for. After this period, she came back renewed and was ready to tackle the rest of 

her life now being comfortable with herself, knowing herself. She said the key to finding herself 

was asking the what questions instead of the why. Sophie would describe herself as an 

overthinker and when she switched her thought process, she said it made all the difference in not 

blaming herself for silly things. (The Right Way to be Introspective (Yes, There’s a Wrong Way) 

by Tasha Eurich, TED Conferences – Moreau F.Y.E. Week Six)  

Even though it is a tragedy that someone so great has left this earth, we can still hold on 

to all the memories that we have shared with her to keep her in our hearts. His Holiness Pope 

Francis said in his speech Why the only future worth building includes everyone, “Hope is the 

virtue of a heart that doesn't lock itself into darkness, that doesn't dwell on the past, does not simply get by 

in the present, but is able to see a tomorrow.” A takeaway from this is that using the wisdom that Sophie 

has shared with us, we can have a community where everyone is loved and united. Her lasting impression 

can be used as guidance to surround yourself with not just people with positive characteristics but also 

people who need someone there for them too. (“Why the only future worth building includes 

everyone” by His Holiness Pope Francis – Moreau F.Y.E. Week Seven) 

Thank you, , for being a part of our lives. We will forever cherish you and are going 

to miss you deeply.